Study Shows Epocrates App Ranks as the Number One Smart Phone and Tablet App Among U.S. Physicians

Epocrates remains the dominant medical application on physicians’ mobile devices in 2013 according to the recently released Manhattan Research Taking the Pulse® U.S. 2013 annual study of physicians’ technology adoption and behavior.

Taking the Pulse U.S. is Manhattan Research’s annual market research study and syndicated advisory service focused on how U.S. physicians use the Internet, digital media, mobile devices and other technologies for professional purposes and patient interaction. The study, which is done annually, was taken in Q1 among more than 3,000 physicians. Relevant findings from the Taking the Pulse U.S. study include:

Epocrates is the most popular medical application on both smartphone (70 percent) and tablet (50 percent) devices among U.S. physician app users

Thirty-four percent of physicians using Epocrates on a smartphone launch the app three or more times a day – a 20 percent growth rate since 2012

Drug references remain a primary digital resource accessed by physicians during and between patient consultations

“Epocrates is extraordinarily helpful for learning about new medications, potential adverse reactions, and checking for drug interactions on the spot,” said Dr. Daniel Clearfield of Fort Worth, Texas. “I count on Epocrates for all of this critical content, as well to keep me abreast of new updates and guidelines with DocAlert messages.

“I haven’t met a health care professional who doesn’t know and love Epocrates,” said Jonathan Bush, CEO and chairman, athenahealth. “We’re ecstatic that Epocrates is part of the athenahealth family, and we are actively exploring ways to build on its incredibly powerful position in the hands of physicians on a daily basis. Epocrates is a constant in health care — repeatedly the top app on physicians’ devices — that cannot be underrated when we look at the future of mHealth and the quantum leaps that will be made in connectivity and care coordination over the next few years.”